James 2:14-26 speaks about faith and works. This section has caused many people to think that salvation is part by faith and part by doing good works. However, that is NOT what James was teaching.

Each of us here today has a heartbeat. The heartbeat can be heard by placing an ear on the chest or with the uses of s stethoscope. In hospitals, the heartbeat can be made visible on a screen. The sound of a heartbeat does not give life but it shows evidence of life. It is an outward sign that the heart on the inside is beating and alive.

To help us understand the complex topic of faith and works, I want us to compare faith to one’s heart and works to one’s heartbeat. Just as a heartbeat does not give life but only reveals life, so works do not give spiritual life they only reveal spiritual life. If a person’s heart has no heartbeat, he is dead, so if a person’s faith has not works, he is spiritually dead or unsaved. A living heart always has a heartbeat (except when doctors are working on the heart) and a living faith always has a heartbeat of works.

Transition

In this section, James illustrates true faith by four works (or heartbeats) that give evidence of true faith.

True faith may be illustrated by a heartbeat of …

A Christ-like Spirit (v.15-17)

  1. James presents an illustration
    1. A Christian brother or sister was cold and hungry and they needed clothing and food (v.15).
    2. Wishing them well without offering any help is not the answer (v.16). A kind greeting alone will do nothing to meet their needs. It is like saying, “I love you” and then being mean to them. They need help not just words of cheer.
    3. The Christ-like thing to do is to give them clothing and food. A loving wish is only genuine if it is followed by helpful action. So faith is only genuine if it is followed by works. James is not saying that helping others will save us or that everyone that helps is saved.
  2. Faith without works is dead
    1. Giving a word of loving encouragement to this needy Christian without reaching out to provide clothing and food is useless. It is claiming one thing in word and doing another thing in deed. This is like claiming to have faith without the heartbeat of works as evidence.
    2. James adds that faith without works is dead (v.17). Faith cannot exist by itself. True faith is always accompanied by works just as a pumping live heart will always be accompanied by a heartbeat.
    3. Wiersbe, “Any declaration of faith that does not result in a changed life and good works is a false declaration. That kind of faith is dead faith.”

True faith may be illustrated by a heartbeat of …

Visible Actions (v.16-20)

  1. Faith is invisible without works
    1. James poses a conversation between two people. Each claim to have faith in Christ. The one asks the other to show his faith without works.
    2. Think about that carefully. You may say that you have faith, but the only way that anyone else can see your faith is by your actions.
    3. For example, you may say “I have faith that God is going to send rain today.” But if you plan an outdoor picnic and take no umbrella, your actions contradict your claims. The only way that we can see your faith is by your actions.
    4. A person who claims to have faith in Christ but has no interest in the things of God lacks a heartbeat of faith.
  2. Even the faith of devils is visible
    1. The Jews of James’ day believed strongly in ONE God. They had strong faith in that (v.19).
    2. James then points out that the devils also believe in ONE God and they tremble. They do not have saving faith, but their faith in ONE God is visible in that they tremble before Him knowing that He will condemn them to hell. Several times during Jesus’ ministry the demons trembled in His presence. (Mark 5:7) “And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.”
    3. If one’s faith in Christ is genuine, he or she will have some form of visible action or works to prove it. Professed faith without visible evidence lacks a heartbeat.

True faith may be illustrated by a heartbeat of …

Obedience (v.21-23)

  1. God gave Abraham a difficult command
    1. God promised Abraham that He would multiply his seed as the sands of the sea and as the stars in the sky. By faith Abraham believed God.
    2. To make Abraham’s faith visible, God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac. God was testing Abraham’s faith in Him.
    3. God’s test was extremely difficult for Abraham. He had waited for many years for this promised son.
  2. In faith Abraham obeyed God
    1. We read in (Genesis 22:9-10) “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.”
    2. According to Hebrews 11:19 Abraham believed that God was able to raise Isaac back to life again.
    3. James used Abraham’s obedience to illustrate the heartbeat of his faith. Not only did Abraham have inward faith, but by his actions he proved it.

True faith may be illustrated by a heartbeat of …

Sacrificial Service (v.24-25)

  1. Rahab heard about Israel’s God
    1. Rahab was a Gentile who lived in Jericho. She had been an ungodly woman. Yet, as Joshua and the armies of Israel neared Jericho, she heard about the miracles of Israel’s God. In her heart she placed her faith in Jehovah God.
    2. (Joshua 2:9-10) “And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.”
  2. She risked her life to help the spies
    1. In sacrificial service to God, she hid the spies and helped them escape. She betrayed her city to help them. For this she could have lost her life.
    2. Helping the spies did not give her faith, it made her faith visible. Her sacrificial service was the heartbeat that proved her faith in God. She was not a secret saint. She risked her life because of her new faith in God.

Conclusion

We are not saved by faith plus works but by faith that works. Good works do not save anyone. They do not help a person get saved. They do not keep a person saved. They are the heartbeats of faith. They reveal that inner faith is alive. They make faith visible.

If you say that you have placed your faith in Christ and are a Christian, can others hear the heartbeats of good works in your life? Is there evidence in your life that proves your faith is alive? Is your life different than that of an unbeliever? Do you enjoy daily Bible reading and pray? Have you obeyed the Lord in believer’s baptism? Do you try to live a clean life that is free from sin? Do you seek to share your faith with others? These good deeds cannot save us, but they are “heartbeats” of genuine faith.

If you are a true Christian, but you have a faint heartbeat, it is time to get right with God and do the good works that He has created you to do (Eph 2:10).

Song: Lord, I’m Coming Home – 253
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Heartbeats of Faith
23 October 2016 AM – James 2:14-26 – Jas16 – Scott Childs